Venus On Earth

The eagerly-awaited album from the Los Angeles indie-rockers who have made it their mission to revive psychedelic, Khmer rock and roll of the 1960's. Fronted by a super-charismatic Cambodian siren, it's a sonic stew of kitsch surf-rock, spaghetti-Western cool, klezmer, ska, Cambodian pop and even Ethiopian jazz.

When the Times newspaper asked "Who will be the music stars of 2008?" one of only a few serious contenders chosen were DENGUE FEVER: "If there is any justice in pop music, we'll all catch Dengue Fever before the year is out."

MOJO gave the album a 4-star review concluding "Powerpop from the land where 1-2-3-4 is pronounced 'muoy- pee-bye-boen'...the world's premier Cambodian psychedelic rock band".

American press has been outstanding: Los Angeles Times - "Sexy and eclectic, it's world music for the cool kids"; SPIN - "Venus On Earth feels impulsive and rich, rippling with surf psychedelia and exultant brass swing" (4 stars); and PASTE - "The maturing, polyglot sound of America's urban future" (3 Stars).

"Tiger Phone Card" taken from Venus On Earth is available for you to remix at Realworld Remixed

Reviews

Live Review at King Tut's, Glasgow, November 19th.Watch this band go as this gig was proof that pop music is an international language.
Sunday Mail (Scotland)

The World's Premier Cambodian Psychedelic Rock Band... the punk grooves of Laugh Track or Seeing Hands and near perfect Phnom Penh of Mr Orange or Monsoon of Perfume bookend a set that grows in strength with each play.
Mojo (UK)

Full Of Style....Here's the sound of California off backpacking in Cambodia circa 1976. Psychedelic surf-guitar (with keyboards to match) meet the Cambodian siren in the shape of Chhom Nimol. She sings beautifully in the Khmer tongue, but also very well in English, at times coming across like an Asian Debbie Harry, full of style and chutzpah.
The Irish Times (Ireland)

It's a heady South-East Asian mix. Alongside Cambodian covers like the dreamy Monsoon of Perfume, Dengue Fever have added a bunch of their own songs like Tiger Phone Card about a long-distance romance. They may be named after a nasty disease but their music is worth catching.
Evening Stanard (UK)

Every so often something comes along that surprises and enthrals in equal measures - and listening to this mixture of American and Cambodian psychedelic-pop is one of those moments...an infectious blend of surf, swing and jazz, plus one Cambodian girl layering a sweet and yet strikingly exotic mixture of English and Khmer-language vocals over the top...Dengue Fever certainly rock the Khmer
Rock 'n' Reel (UK)

An inspired marriage of Sixties Cambodian pop and West Coast psychedelia, Dengue Fever are set to rock the festivals this summer.The uninitiated might be forgiven for thinking that Dengue Fever is the result of some feverish hallucination in a tropical emergency. But they're the real thing, an inspired combination of soaring Cambodian vocals from lead singer Chhom Nimol, and West Coast psychedelia as seen through the colour-drenched lens of Cambodia in the swinging Sixties....These are songs that cross multiple time zones, with sonic textures ranging freely from psychedelia to surf, mariachi to garage rock, and even Berber rhythms and Ethiopique sax...prolonged exposure to Dengue Fever is likely to bring on delirium and involuntary movements of the legs and arms. You have been warned.
[i][url=http://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/music/features/the-infectious-rhythms-of-dengue-fever-850731.html]The Full Independent Review[/url][/i]
The Independent (UK)

This came out a few weeks but in that time we have fallen in love with it and hence the album of the week status. totally inflammatory, catchy and unexpectiedly addictive- los angeles dengue fever's sonic epidemic has turned our ears! fronted by the belle and bona fide cambodian pop star, this heady brew oozes the sweet summer sickness: a retro mish-mash of eastern melodies and soundtrack landscapes with sublime vocals beguiling over brooding and intoxicating atmospherics. dengue fever's first records were mostly covers of cambodian and exotic 60's pop. this third release is an all original album, informed by retro spy-movie soundtracks, wide ranging influences from ethiopian jazz, surf, and garage rock psychedelia, lounge jazz and american rock and roll. great fun, a collection of left-field pop songs full of hooks and hypnotic grooves. not unlike current buzz acts such as vampire weekend and yeasayer look further afield for musical reference points, dengue fever are creating exciting and adventurous audio cocktails that are more and more embraced by a wider audience. they've already infected such featured films and television shows including 'city of ghosts', 'must love dogs', 'broken flowers', and twice on showtime's hit series, 'weeds'. the real world version includes an exclusive live radio session bonus track recording of 'one thousand tears of a tarantula'.
[i][url=http://www.roughtrade.com/site/shop_detail.lasso?search_type=sku&sku=295315]www.roughtrade.com[/url][/i]
Rough Trade (UK)

Blending Sixties Cambodian pop with crunching rock dynamics, LA's Dengue Fever represent the cutting edge of a new rapprochement between world music and indie-rock. Comprising beardy brothers Zac and Ethan Holtzman - guitar and keyboards respectively - and soignée Cambodian singer Chhom Nimol, Dengue Fever take the yearning melodies, Hammond organs and surf guitars of vintage "Khmer pop" and turn up the psychedelic-ness through artful arrangements that reference everything from garage rock to Ethiopian jazz.... It's difficult to imagine that this fragrant, yet explosive cocktail won't go down a storm at their many British festival dates this summer.
The Telegraph (UK)